SUNDERLAND come to Goodison tomorrow and they don't seem to be leaking goals anymore.

SUNDERLAND come to Goodison tomorrow and they don't seem to be leaking goals anymore. Not surprisingly Howard Wilkinson's priority has been to tighten up the defence.

Everton's poor defensive display at Spurs last weekend will have disappointed David Moyes (left), particularly the manner in which they conceded the goals.

There were too many individual errors. For the first Tottenham goal, one player left the post while another stayed in there.

You really have to decide whether you are going to defend the goal or push out to leave the opposition in an offside position. Everton have to work on that to ensure there is no repetition.

Everyone has been impressed by Joseph Yobo. He looks a good player, but the last thing you want him to be doing is taking chances to look good.

If you are coming in front of a striker to pinch the ball off him and bring it forward, you have to be so careful. It can be very costly if it doesn't work.

There are a lot of experienced strikers in the Premiership and they can easily turn you, which is what happened at Spurs and they went on to score.

Never mind looking good, in the last third of the field you have to stay goal-side of the attacking player.

Sunderland are not leaking goals anymore, but they are not scoring many either. That said,

Everton have to be careful because in Kevin Phillips the visitors have someone who can turn a game. It will be interesting to see Gavin

McCann making a return to Goodison. When he was an Everton player I thought he had every chance of making it at the top. He impressed immediately, but then suffered an injury which set back his progress.

He will be looking forward to coming back and showing what he can do.

McBride a boost>

EVERTON will be aiming to beat Sunderland after going five Premiership games without a victory. That run should not be too much of a concern. They have only lost once in that spell, at Tottenham, and have still been picking up points. Their league position remains encouraging.

A few fans have been bemoaning the lack of a creative playmaker in the Everton midfield, but Scot Gemmill's pass that created Brian McBride's goal at White Hart Lane was outstanding.

The way McBride took his goal was very encouraging and he played well considering he has not had many games for such a long time.